Roofs, as well as walls, are susceptible to damage from high winds, rain or hail. Tiled roofs for example may have a considerable area of tiles either damaged from hail impact, or dislodged completely as the result of high intensity storms. Shingled roofs are liable to be similarly damaged, and even metal sheeted roofs may suffer partial or total removal of one or more sheets. Damage to roofs and walls may also be caused by the impact of falling trees, large branches, or other objects made airborne under high wind conditions.
Storm or impact damage cannot usually be immediately repaired so that to prevent further or potential damage to the interior of the building, temporary covering must be provided. Typically canvas (or similar material) tarpaulins are placed over the damaged part of the roof and secured to the structure by ropes.
One disadvantage of this method of temporary covering is the difficulty of adequately securing a tarpaulin to the roof or walls so that they remain very vulnerable to dislodgement should high winds prevail or recur and often require continuing attention and adjustment. Moreover, they are heavy and awkward to position, posing occupational health and safety issues. A further disadvantage is that they are expensive to acquire and bulky to store, and if the many roofs are damaged in one storm event, the number of tarpaulins available may be inadequate.
Buildings under construction, particularly timber framed, brick clad dwellings, are frequently constructed in a sequence where the timber frame, including that of the roof, is completed a considerable time before the roof cladding can be added. A disadvantage of this construction technique is that during this period the timber of the structure, which may even include timber or particle board flooring, is liable to deterioration from water and sun. A further disadvantage of this sequence of construction is that, if rain intervenes at the time further internal work is scheduled, the lack of roof covering may cause considerable delay and financial loss.
A system of covering a roof with a film of material for the purpose of preventing damage from wind shear was disclosed in US 2005/0217202. However this US application teaches a method of application of the film from a roll of film hoisted up onto the roof surface, the film being unrolled in situ with overlapping edges of the film being secured by the application of adhesive tape. Rolls of film are heavy and in practice the manipulation of a roll of film and the edge taping required on even an intact roof surface is extremely difficult, if not dangerous and is completely impractical for application to the roof framing of an uncompleted building.
It is common practice to provide a moisture resistant barrier or wrap to a building structure. Such barriers or building wraps are particularly important for those structures that are constructed of timber framing. It is known to apply a weather resistant wrap over the timber studs of a building in order to resist the ingress of moisture. This moisture can cause unwanted structural movement in framework constructed from kiln dried timber.
The material is typically in the form of a flexible plastic film such as polyethylene. Prior art practice for applying building wrap comprises unrolling, measuring and cutting strips of wrap on the ground and then subsequently joining them to form a single sheet for subsequent nailing or stapling across the vertical walls or stud frame of a structure. Because of the slippery nature of the wrap material and difficulties in managing said wrap in windy conditions it is often extremely awkward or even dangerous to work at elevated locations. Also areas of slack or looseness can arise when the preformed sheet is nailed or stapled to the structure. This results in air pockets which may detract from the insulating and sealing properties of the wrap.
Older buildings frequently included asbestos material for roofing, wall cladding and pipe lagging. Removal of such material, for example during renovations, repair or for health risk reasons, provides hazards from loose asbestos flakes and fibres escaping into the environment.
It is an object of the present invention to address or at least ameliorate some of the above disadvantages.
Notes
                1. The term “comprising” (and grammatical variations thereof) is used in this specification in the inclusive sense of “having” or “including”, and not in the exclusive sense of “consisting only of”.        2. The above discussion of the prior art in the Background of the invention, is not an admission that any information discussed therein is citable prior art or part of the common general knowledge of persons skilled in the art in any country.        